Currencies are traded against one another in pairs. Each currency pair thus constitutes an individual trading product and is traditionally noted XXXYYY or XXX/YYY, where XXX and YYY are the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currencies involved. The first currency (XXX) is the base currency that is quoted relative to the second currency (YYY), called the counter currency (or quote currency). For instance, the quotation EURUSD (EUR/USD) 1.5465 is the price of the Euro expressed in US dollars, meaning 1 euro = 1.5465 dollars. The market convention is to quote most exchange rates against the USD with the US dollar as the base currency (e.g. USDJPY, USDCAD, USDCHF). The exceptions are the British pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), the New Zealand dollar (NZD) and the euro (EUR) where the USD is the counter currency (e.g. GBPUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, EURUSD).
At the end of 1913, nearly half of the world's foreign exchange was conducted using the pound sterling.[24] The number of foreign banks operating within the boundaries of London increased from 3 in 1860, to 71 in 1913. In 1902, there were just two London foreign exchange brokers.[25] At the start of the 20th century, trades in currencies was most active in Paris, New York City and Berlin; Britain remained largely uninvolved until 1914. Between 1919 and 1922, the number of foreign exchange brokers in London increased to 17; and in 1924, there were 40 firms operating for the purposes of exchange.[26]
The possibility of losing your investment is high, so it is advisable to only use risk capital (money that you can afford to lose) when engaging in Forex trading. The Forex market offers high levels of leverage to traders. Leverage has both the possibility of high returns and high losses, and should only be used with discretion. Be disciplined and don't be tempted to overtrade.
Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Forex is the one financial market that never sleeps, meaning you can trade at all hours of the day (or night). Unlike the world's stock exchanges, which are located in physical trading rooms like the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange, the Forex market is known as an 'Over-the-counter market' (or OTC). This means that the trades take place directly between the parties holding the currencies, rather than being managed via an exchange.

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.
However, since the Forex market is a global market, it means there is always a part of the world that is awake and conducting business, and during these hours their currencies tend to experience the most movement. For example, currency pairs involving the US dollar experience the most movement during US business hours (16:00 to 24:00 GMT), while the Euro, Pound, Swiss Franc and other European currencies experience the most movement during European business hours, (8:00 and 16:00 GMT).
Currencies are always traded in pairs, so the "value" of one of the currencies in that pair is relative to the value of the other. This determines how much of country A's currency country B can buy, and vice versa. Establishing this relationship (price) for the global markets is the main function of the foreign exchange market. This also greatly enhances liquidity in all other financial markets, which is key to overall stability.
Trading in South Africa might be safest with an FSA regulated (or registered) brand. The regions classed as ‘unregulated’ by European brokers see way less ‘default’ protection. So a local regulator can give additional confidence. This is similar in Singapore, the Philippines or Hong Kong. The choice of ‘best forex broker’ will therefore differ region by region.
In the above hourly price chart, it is clear to see there has been multiple interactions with the 21 EMA. Sometimes price has bounced off the moving average and sometimes it has broken through. As it has bounced off more times than it has broken through this 'setup' can serve as the basis of this strategy. So now let's identify some rules around this.
Diversify your portfolio: We all know the saying, 'don't put all your eggs in one basket', yet many new FX traders do this when it comes to their trading. Just as it isn't wise to put all of your funds into a single trade, relying on a single currency pair increases your level of risk, because if the pair moves in a different direction to what you expect, you could lose everything. Instead, consider opening a number of small trades across different Forex pairs.

Forex banks, ECNs, and prime brokers offer NDF contracts, which are derivatives that have no real deliver-ability. NDFs are popular for currencies with restrictions such as the Argentinian peso. In fact, a forex hedger can only hedge such risks with NDFs, as currencies such as the Argentinian peso cannot be traded on open markets like major currencies.[77]

Risk warning: Trading Forex (foreign exchange) or CFDs (contracts for difference) on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you may sustain a loss equal to or greater than your entire investment. Therefore, you should not invest or risk money that you cannot afford to lose. Before using Admiral Markets UK Ltd, or Admiral Markets PTY Ltd services, please acknowledge all of the risks associated with trading.
A foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option) is a derivative where the owner has the right but not the obligation to exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. The FX options market is the deepest, largest and most liquid market for options of any kind in the world.
Forex day trading is usually used in order to eliminate the need to pay fees for keeping a position overnight. These fees are referred to as 'Swaps'. In some cases, the swaps could be positive, and a trading strategy based on acquiring assets with positive swaps is referred to as a 'Carry Trade', however this strategy is beyond the scope of this article. Day traders hold a lot of importance for the Forex market.
Financial spread betting is only available to OANDA Europe Ltd customers who reside in the UK or Republic of Ireland. CFDs, MT4 hedging capabilities and leverage ratios exceeding 50:1 are not available to US residents. The information on this site is not directed at residents of countries where its distribution, or use by any person, would be contrary to local law or regulation.
We will cover how you can start trading (including choosing the best broker and trading software), the fundamentals of risk management, the different ways you can analyse the Forex market, and an overview of the most popular trading strategies. By the end of this guide, you will have the knowledge you need to start testing your trading skills with a free Demo account, before you move onto a live account.
Analysis is absolutely vital to trading. Charts are helpful for both short and long-term trading. You should be looking at daily, weekly, and monthly charts. Fortunately, there are a number of different approaches to Forex analysis, which means every trader can find the right approach for them. The three broad categories of Forex analysis are fundamental analysis, technical analysis and wave analysis.

National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses as other traders would. There is also no convincing evidence that they actually make a profit from trading.
These currency pairs, in addition to a variety of other combinations, account for over 95% of all speculative trading in the forex market. However, you will probably have noticed the US dollar is prevalent in the major currency pairings. This is because it’s the world’s leading reserve currency, playing a part in approximately 88% of currency trades.

Forex day trading is usually used in order to eliminate the need to pay fees for keeping a position overnight. These fees are referred to as 'Swaps'. In some cases, the swaps could be positive, and a trading strategy based on acquiring assets with positive swaps is referred to as a 'Carry Trade', however this strategy is beyond the scope of this article. Day traders hold a lot of importance for the Forex market.

Inflation levels and trends: Typically a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency. However, a currency may sometimes strengthen when inflation rises because of expectations that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates to combat rising inflation.
Continue your Forex education: The markets are constantly changing, with new trading ideas and strategies being published regularly. To ensure you continue to develop your trading skills, it's important to stay on top of your trading education by regularly reviewing market analysis and by learning new trading strategies. For more trading education, take a look at our Forex and CFD webinars, which are designed to grow your knowledge as you start and continue to trade.
Inflation levels and trends: Typically a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency. However, a currency may sometimes strengthen when inflation rises because of expectations that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates to combat rising inflation.

Hedge funds – Somewhere around 70 to 90% of all foreign exchange transactions are speculative in nature. This means, the person or institutions that bought or sold the currency has no plan of actually taking delivery of the currency; instead, the transaction was executed with sole intention of speculating on the price movement of that particular currency. Retail speculators (you and I) are small cheese compared to the big hedge funds that control and speculate with billions of dollars of equity each day in the currency markets.

When learning about Forex trading, many beginners tend to focus on major currency pairs because of their daily volatility and tight spreads. But there are numerous other opportunities – from exotic FX pairs, to CFD trading opportunities on stocks, commodities, energy futures, to indices. There are even indices that track groups of indices, and you can trade them as well.
Automated Forex trades could enhance your returns if you have developed a consistently effective strategy. This is because instead of manually entering a trade, an algorithm or bot will automatically enter and exit positions once pre-determined criteria have been met. In addition, there is often no minimum account balance required to set up an automated system.
Scalping is a higher frequency form of trading, wherein traders focus on lower time frames, trying to profit from the market's volatility. Very often, traders make 15-30 scalps per day, whereas the profit is usually between 5-15 pips. The risk with scalping is usually 2-5% per trade, but bear in mind that if you cross 5% of your risk threshold, your account will be in a danger zone.
Flights to quality: Unsettling international events can lead to a "flight-to-quality", a type of capital flight whereby investors move their assets to a perceived "safe haven". There will be a greater demand, thus a higher price, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts. The US dollar, Swiss franc and gold have been traditional safe havens during times of political or economic uncertainty.[73]
This is quite a nice strategy for traders that have a lot of time at their disposal. Trading breakouts can be a great day trading strategy too. With this strategy you are patiently waiting for big market moves, usually caused by the various changes in the relevant country's economies. Such changes are delivered either unexpectedly or via expected news releases. During breakout trading, a trader opens a position in the forecasted direction, and waits for the currency pair to escalate (or slump) by a large amount of pips.
Currencies are always traded in pairs, so the "value" of one of the currencies in that pair is relative to the value of the other. This determines how much of country A's currency country B can buy, and vice versa. Establishing this relationship (price) for the global markets is the main function of the foreign exchange market. This also greatly enhances liquidity in all other financial markets, which is key to overall stability.
Unless you understand the code it's written in, you're probably not going to be able to adapt your EA to work with those changes. If you are one of the many traders who believe that an EA would outperform the market, then perhaps you should give it a try with the MetaTrader Supreme Edition plugin. And perhaps best of all, we offer EAs free of charge for traders!
When trading Forex, you'll see that both 'Bid' and 'Ask' prices are quoted. The bid price is the price at which you can buy the currency, while the ask price is the price at which you can sell it. If you are purchasing a currency in a trade, this is known as a long trade, and the hope is that the currency pair will increase in value, so that you can sell it at a higher price and make a profit on the difference.
Becoming a successful Forex trader requires a good understanding of charts and how they work. You must also define your trading strategies and stick to them. Like any other investment activity, trading in Forex involves a lot of risks, and proper money management principles should be employed when undertaking it. Although anyone can trade in Forex, it is definitely not for everyone. You need to have an appetite for, and an understanding of the risks and technicalities involved.
The most common type of forward transaction is the foreign exchange swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not standardized contracts and are not traded through an exchange. A deposit is often required in order to hold the position open until the transaction is completed.
The blender company could have reduced this risk by shorting the euro and buying the USD when they were at parity. That way, if the dollar rose in value, the profits from the trade would offset the reduced profit from the sale of blenders. If the USD fell in value, the more favorable exchange rate will increase the profit from the sale of blenders, which offsets the losses in the trade.